The Bucs did stop here.
Natchitoches Central stunned previously unbeaten Haughton at Turpin Stadium Friday night, winning their District 1-5A football contest 27-14, giving the Chiefs their first victory of the season in commanding style.
NCHS led 14-0 at halftime and 27-7 in the fourth quarter. Haughton came in averaging 47 points per game in district play.
The Chiefs got a 16-yard touchdown pass from Kobe Jones to Ronald Bolton, and a 3-yard Kaden Kuykendoll scoring run. Jones found Blessed Brown with a 24-yard TD throw for a 21-0 lead and the Chiefs’ Derrick Beaudoin turned in a 55-yard pick six interception return score.
The Natchitoches Central defense made some clutch stops to keep Haughton off the board in the first half. Meanwhile, the Chiefs’ offense held possession, allowing the Bucs only three series in the first 24 minutes.
After Haughton made its own goalline stand at the 1 to open the game, the Bucs drove to the NCHS 30 but were halted on a fourth-and-1 at the 26. The Chiefs responded with a 76-yard drive to their first score. A 73-yard march late in the second quarter made it 14-0 with 2:03 left in the half, and it stayed that way when Natchitoches Central stopped Haughton’s talented senior quarterback Taylor Weathersby scrambling at the 3 on the final play before intermission.
The Bucs cut the lead in half early in the third period on a 55-yard run by backup tailback Nolan Simmons, but NCHS responded with a 67-yard scoring drive and the Jones-to-Brown touchdown on a fourth-and-2.
Beaudoin’s pick six ended Haughton’s next possession and created a 20-point lead. A fourth-down stop at the NCHS 32 denied the Bucs’ next chance. They did convert a 92-yard drive in the fourth quarter to get within two scores, but then were halted at the Chiefs’ 34 and the winners ran out the clock.
It was the first time this season Haughton (8-1, 4-1) was held under 41 points.
Chiefs’ coach Brad Laird was filled with admiration for his team, notably the senior class honored before kickoff.
“I’m proud of the 22 seniors. We talked about their situation, sitting here 0-8, and the way we lost last week (in overtime), and you’re playing an 8-0 team, just credit to our players and the way they battle for four quarters and continue to show up, I’m proud for the seniors and the entire team.
“We beat a good football team. I’m excited for the players and the coaches who put together a great game plan in all three phases.”
Laird, whose own high school career ended with an unbeaten state championship season in 1990 at Ruston, was gratified to see the Chiefs’ tenacity pay off.
“As a coach, you’ve waited for this moment, to be able to look them in the eyes after the game with that smile on their faces. I got in that situation and I was speechless, and I told them that. There’s been championships and undefeated seasons (in my career), but to watch a 15, 16, 17, 18-year old young man who’s 0-8 to continue to work and go out there and play 48 minutes like they did, as a coach I couldn’t be more excited for them, proud for them.
“A lot of people might not see a win when you’re 0-8 being that big, but as I look back at 27 years of coaching it is. The way I feel for our players, and our coaches, who have just kept competing and trying to be better day after day, week after week, and believing in each other,” said Laird.
Haughton coach Matthew Sewell made no excuses, although his team had some starters out or limited with flu, notably star running back Brandon Craig, who managed only four carries in brief playing time.
“We had chances and didn’t play well, but they played great and they had an awesome game plan,” he told Russell Hedges of the Bossier Press. “And then they ran the ball very well and played well on defense.
“Hats off to Coach Laird and those guys, to be 0-and-8 and still playing as hard as they are. They do a great job, and they’ve dealt with injuries all year long, and to have them still playing the way that they are, I mean, I think that says a lot about those coaches and and what they’re doing. So hats off to them.”
JONESBORO-HODGE 52, LAKEVIEW 0: JHHS began all 11 possessions in Lakeview territory and erupted for a school-record 38 points in the second quarter at Caldwell-Peacock Stadium to hand the visiting Gators their sixth consecutive loss.
Lakeview (2-7, 0-4 in District 3-1A) reached inside the 1 in the final minute but the Tigers (7-2, 3-1) preserved the shutout.
